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This Is Horrible! ***spoilers***

Im "reading" this audio-book at the moment and find it absolutely horrible. The book is not horrible though, It's pretty great actually (I had my doubts about the book, how much fun can it be when all they do is walking, right?) But it captured me pretty quickly.

When I say "horrible" I mean, the world's gone crazy or what?

In what kind of dystopian future can people think this is kocher?

*How in hell can people actually sign up for this s***t voluntarily?
* The boys are just 16 years old, minors. How can the parents allow them to participate?
* People are actually standing on the side of the road watching this as if it's a baseball game or something, why?
* There's groupies coming to this event? That's just sick
* How can the soldiers just gun-down 16-year old boys like that? That's evil.

Im not exactly sure how fast 4 m/ph is (I count distances in km) but for how long do you guys think it's actually possible to walk before collapsing?

The sickest part about the book though, gotta be the thing Pearson says about enema. How is younger brother actually likes having them and if he's a brave boy and don't cry when his big bro leaves for the long walk, his mom will give him an enema as a treat.

Im about halfway into it, great piece of work (not my favourit King book, still very good)

I think I'd last about 90 minutes before turning to madness and get my "ticket"

The main character actually has an orgasm while walking! After he's been walking for almost 24 hours.. And with people dropping like flies all around him.. Is it even possible to get an erection under those circumstances? I think I'd have some problems achieving one, but that's just me though

What Shasta said "Who thinks of these things???"
Mr. King has a dark, twisted, disturbed mind (in a good way)

Wifey needed the car today so I walked to/from work.. Now, It's the middle of the night right, streets are deserted and Im Walking home on my way from work listening to "The Long Walk". Im kinda lost in the book and don't pay much attention to anything else, I have to cross this road so I stop by the side of it, checking for cars. As soon as I stop the damn Soldier in my headphones shouts "WARNING! WARNING NUMBER 47!" and im like "HOOOLY S**T!!" and sprint across that road like my Life depended on it

Btw... This:

People picks up the Long-Walkers poo, bottles it and keep it as a souvenir on their mantles??

I thought this a very macabre and bleak story but a great one, and not that far removed from what actually took place during the "Depression Era" 1920's-30's Dance Marathons .
Here's an extract from the rules for such a competition;

"Couples who entered a dance marathon had to move continuously for 45 minutes each hour, their feet constantly remaining in motion. Knees could not touch the floor.
If they did, contestants were disqualified.
If one dancer dropped out of the marathon, the partner was required to leave as well.
Contestants rested for 15 minutes of every hour.
During the brief rest period, men and women stayed in separate sleeping areas where they could sleep, change clothing, or have a massage. The dancers paid for their own massages.
The competition was gruelling, humiliating, and physically exhausting.A single competition lasted as long as two months.
Some dance marathons included races and endurance tests involving complicated dance steps.
Audience members threw money at their favorite dancers, cheered them on, and chatted with them."
-----------------------------------------
If you're interested the 1969 film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" relates the story of such a marathon brilliantly.

* The boys are just 16 years old, minors. How can the parents allow them to participate?

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Again, see above. A billion dollars (not to mention the Prize) can be persuasive.

* People are actually standing on the side of the road watching this as if it's a baseball game or something, why?

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Some human beings are sick. People used to watch humans get ravaged by tigers. Also, look at how many violent movies there are. People like violence and watching it when they're not involved. If this happened in real life, it would get great ratings

* There's groupies coming to this event? That's just sick

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See above. Humans are sick sometimes. Charles Manson has a groupie for God's sake.

* How can the soldiers just gun-down 16-year old boys like that? That's evil.

Click to expand...

Humans are evil sometimes. Soldiers in real life have done even worse.

Again, see above. A billion dollars (not to mention the Prize) can be persuasive.

Some human beings are sick. People used to watch humans get ravaged by tigers. Also, look at how many violent movies there are. People like violence and watching it when they're not involved. If this happened in real life, it would get great ratings

See above. Humans are sick sometimes. Charles Manson has a groupie for God's sake.

Humans are evil sometimes. Soldiers in real life have done even worse.

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Remember in the old West? Didn't the townsfolk all gather to watch "a good hanging"?

Unfortunately, that wasn't just the old west crowd who like to watch this activity. In some of our lifetimes, this happened to many people. And I'm sure still goes on in other places on the globe to this day.

Unfortunately, that wasn't just the old west crowd who like to watch this activity. In some of our lifetimes, this happened to many people. And I'm sure still goes on in other places on the globe to this day.

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They are talking about bringing back Sharia law in Afghanistan so they can stone adulterers to death in public (all you would need would be four witnesses)

Remember in the old West? Didn't the townsfolk all gather to watch "a good hanging"?

Click to expand...

Read this...collection...of writings from an executioner from the...long ago. I'd offer a century...like the 16th, but I'd probably be off. People gathered for executions, that is true...and they wanted it done correctly...which offers some insight into the character of Paul in The Green Mile. Wanted it so...and if not...the executioner needed to beware. I'd have to look at my notes of this read to refresh my memory, but the reading offered some insights that corrected some of the misconceptions I have/had. Late 16th, early 17th...Franz Schmidt, Nuremberg.

Really good story. The only thing that bothered me was the pace...4 MPH is just too fast. You couldn't sustain it more than, say, several hours. Besides, there's a place early on where he talks of the vanguard moving at 6-7 MPH; that's a medium-speed jog, for heaven's sake.

Bah, I just wrote this under the Bachman Books heading because I didn't see this one but this is one of the greatest stories I have ever read, anywhere, any time....period. Just my humble opinion. Genius.

It's really not hard to understand where King was going with this book. It was his first book written by 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Kids were getting drafted, going off to war, watching their colleagues die, and dying for no reason. I find this book to be a metaphor for what was going on in Vietnam.

For me however, Garraty is one of my favorite King characters. He tried to befriend many and even in death kept rallying his comrades up. The friendship between he and McVries touched me in an odd way. Knowing they would likely die, but becoming closer as the book progressed.

the scene where he cries in agony when McVries can no longer go on and he shouts take me instead and the tears over Baker